Super Typhoon Meari
Super Typhoon Meari, also known as Super Typhoon Ofel in the Philippines, was one of the strongest typhoons in history, and the most deadliest typhoon and storm on record. Super Typhoon Meari began from a large cluster of thunderstorms that were about 50 miles west of the Federated States of Micronesia as they steadily organized into a tropical depression in the same spot. Meteorological History Super Typhoon Meari began from a large cluster of thunderstorms persisting about 50 miles west of the Federated States of Micronesia, and the large cluster of thunderstorms were initially located in a mildly favorable environment for slow intensification with temperatures only at 81 degrees with shear being 15-20knots, however as it continued to move west it entered a slightly more favorable environment with temperatures favorable for steady to rapid intensification, with temperatures soaring at 89 degrees and with wind shear at 5-10 knots. The cluster of thunderstorms was later designated Tropical Depression 23W by the JTWC; the JMA did not recognize this depression until about 6 hours later. The tropical depression was located over that very favorable environment as it began to move west-northwestward at about 4 miles per hour (3.4 knots per hour). The tropical depression began to move at a rate of 7 miles per hour after a trough coming from New Guinea quickly pushed the depression to the northwest. After traveling over a spot of 90 degree temperatures, the depression was named Tropical Storm Meari, however within the next advisory, it was upgraded to Severe Tropical Storm Meari. By then, sea temperatures were nearing 92 degrees due to a larger, new spot stretching from Micronesia to the Philippines. The next day, on October 4th, Meari had intensified to a typhoon, the 13th of the season. Despite being a typhoon, Meari did not show an eye as it began to stall out in intensity. Due to the trough and the subtropical ridge, Meari was limited to a west-northwest to northwest movement. By early the 21st, it had finally intensified to a category 2 typhoon as a pinhole eye, combined with hot towers began to show up on satellite camera. The typhoon once again began to stall out in intensity as the eye cleared out even more, however winds remained the same. Eventually, Dvorak intensities supported an upgrade to strong category 3 typhoon status as the eye cleared out even more. This category 3 status was short-lived as it was rapidly upgraded to weak category 4 typhoon status within the next advisory. Eventually, Meari absorbed the shorter-lived Severe Tropical Storm Ma-on, which caused Meari's wind field to swell up; however instead of weakening it actually continued to strengthen due to 92 degree waters. By then, Meari began to move slightly faster at a rate of 15 miles per hour (13.03 knots) with the typhoon upgraded to a category 5 typhoon, the fourth of the season. By then, the pressure was at 913 millibars as the super typhoon continued to barrel towards the Philippines, specifically the province of Aurora and the northern part of Luzon, as well as the entirety of the Ilocos Region and the southern portion of Cagayan Valley. By then, convection was at the level of Typhoon Vongfong as wind speeds increased to 185mph, with 10-minute windspeeds of 145 miles per hour. By then, evacuations were pouring out to the extreme southern Philippines, with many people evacuating as far south as Mindanao just to get away from the large wind swath of the typhoon, which by then was stretching over 900 miles. Meari's eye cleared out even more with the convection becoming more concentrated with the wind speeds increasing to 195mph with the convection levels slightly more intense than Haiyan, with Dvorak numbers at the maximum of T8.0, however according to the raw Dvorak estimates, it would've been at T8.6. Meari only had a small window left of intensification and used this to the advantage as Meari began to rapidly intensify to 215mph with 10-minute winds going up to a record of 160 miles per hour. Meari's winds later rapidly increased to 200mph despite the crazed window between 10-minute and 1-minute. Meari supposedly peaked at 215mph but in post-analysis it was later deemed to be 220mph after this wind speed stalled out for about three hours before going down to 215 miles per hour, the sign of weakening. However, the weakening did not do much, unfortunately as it continued moving towards the Aurora region specifically at 215 miles per hour. By then, evacuations were pouring out to the mid islands as Meari then landfalled on the 13th of October early that morning at 2AM in Philippines time. The super typhoon was bringing extremely heavy rains even 24 hours before landfall which had contributed to many of the deaths even before the storm made landfall. Meari quickly made landfall with 215mph winds, causing catastrophic damage. Wind speeds of category 5 super typhoon winds were present all over the northern Philippines; the bands even spread as far as southern Mindanao. Meari quickly traveled over the Philippines as it weakened to 175mph by the time that Meari exited the Philippines area; even as it was in the Southern China Sea, the Philippines was still plagued by Meari's lasting bands of wind and rain. Preparations Philippines Impact References Meari surprisingly did not have many references; these two are the only traceable sources as the rest are either 404'd or untraceable. http://nation.foxnews.com.xctq.clonezone.link/supertyphoonmeari - Super Typhoon Meari at peak intensity near the Philippines http://abc7ny.com.mwnq.clonezone.link/mearivietnamlandfall - Super Typhoon Meari making landfall in Vietnam at 160mph Category:AGirlCalledKeranique Category:Typhoons Category:Super Typhoons Category:Destructive storms